Nuclear Arms On Agenda: Trump plans reductions with Putin and Xi; officials expect no deal

US President Donald Trump plans to discuss global nuclear disarmament with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during an unprecedented trilateral meeting in China next week, the White House said on Friday. Trump will raise the issue of reducing nuclear arsenals during the meeting scheduled for Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shenzhen, White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told reporters. "He will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation President Trump believes is very dangerous," Wales said.

Trump's push to make nuclear arms reduction a key agenda item at the first-ever meeting involving the three leaders has reportedly caused unease in Beijing. China is hosting a summit primarily focused on trade and economic cooperation and has repeatedly resisted US efforts to initiate discussions on nuclear disarmament. Washington and Moscow possess the world's two largest nuclear arsenals, while China's stockpile has also been expanding. Beijing has traditionally maintained that nuclear negotiations should primarily involve Russia and the United States because of the significant difference in their respective weapons inventories.

A senior Trump administration official acknowledged that the meeting was unlikely to produce an immediate agreement on nuclear arms reduction. "We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement," the official said, describing the issue as a difficult one for Beijing to address. However, the official urged China to take a more active role in discussions on global nuclear security, adding that the meeting could mark the beginning of a constructive dialogue. "This is the beginning of hopefully a conversation that can be productive going forward," the official said.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia has the world's largest stockpile of stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and China. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which governed nuclear arms control between Washington and Moscow, expired this year. It remains uncertain whether Putin and Xi will agree to engage in discussions on nuclear weapons reductions with Trump. The Chinese and Russian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Apart from nuclear disarmament, Trump is also expected to discuss the US-Israeli war against Iran with the two leaders. However, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is unlikely to be part of the agenda, the senior administration official said. Trump is not expected to hold separate bilateral talks with Putin during the visit. He is also unlikely to discuss Ukraine's access to satellite communications services provided by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Musk will accompany Trump on his China visit but will not participate in the trilateral meeting with Xi and Putin, according to the official.

Explaining why the Ukraine conflict would not feature in the discussions, the official said Washington had recently held several meetings with Moscow, while Beijing was not directly involved in that diplomatic process. "We've had many meetings recently with the Russians, but China is not really a part of that track, so it doesn't seem appropriate to have the Ukraine discussion there," the official said.

Trump is also not expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his upcoming Asian tour, the administration official confirmed. The US president is scheduled to leave on Monday for a four-day regional visit, which will include stops in China and the Philippines. The planned trilateral engagement with Putin and Xi is expected to put nuclear weapons proliferation and international security at the centre of discussions.